Hans-Jürgen Appelrath (7 February 1952 – 5 August 2016) was a professor of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

and

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system ...

(IT) at the

University of Oldenburg The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (german: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg) is a university located in Oldenburg, Germany. It is one of the most important and highly regarded educational facilities in northwestern German ...

from 1987.

Early career

After graduating from high school in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

in June 1970, Appelrath studied mathematics and philosophy at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

from 1970 to 1972. He then enrolled in the diploma course (old German

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from grc, δίπλωμα ''diploma'') is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belaru ...

) in

with minor in mathematics at the

University of Dortmund TU Dortmund University (german: Technische Universität Dortmund) is a technical university in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with over 35,000 students, and over 6,000 staff including 300 professors, offering around 80 Bachelor's and ...

, which he successfully completed in March 1977. From 1977 to 1983, he was a research associate of the Department of Computer Science at the

in various industrial collaboration projects. In May 1983, Appelrath was awarded his PhD by the

. From 1984 to 1986, Appelrath was senior lecturer and research group leader at the Department of Computer Science of the

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , a ...

, where he was appointed as assistant professor of computer science in 1986. Between 1986 and 2001, he declined offers of professorship by the universities of Augsburg, Koblenz, Münster and Innsbruck. Since 1987, Appelrath was a professor of computer science and IT at the University of Oldenburg, and, since 1991, a board member of the IT institute, Offis. From June 1992 to June 2005, he served as Chairman of Offis institute. From 2009 to 2010, he was Vice President for Research at the University of Oldenburg, and from June 2014 acting Vice President.

Later career

Appelrath was the author and publisher of numerous textbooks and publications. He was responsible for many, extensive third-party projects at the University of Oldenburg and its affiliated institute OFFIS, which employs about 280 academic staff. He was a member of the

German Academy of Science and Engineering Acatech (styled ''acatech),'' founded in 2002 and established as the German Academy of Science and Engineering (german: Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften) on 1 January 2008, represents the interests of German technical sciences independe ...

(acatech). He also sat on the Advisory Board of Institute of Computer Science at

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 ...

and Computer Science Technology Center (TZI) at

University of Bremen The University of Bremen (German: ''Universität Bremen'') is a public university in Bremen, Germany, with approximately 23,500 people from 115 countries. It is one of 11 institutions which were successful in the category "Institutional Strategi ...

. In addition, Appelrath was a member of supervisory boards of several companies and chairman of the Association of Cooperative Education in IT and Business, Oldenburg. ( Berufsakademie für IT und Wirtschaft Oldenburg)

Awards

*2004: Fellow of the German Society for Computer Science (

Gesellschaft für Informatik The German Informatics Society (GI) (german: Gesellschaft für Informatik) is a German professional society for computer science, with around 20,000 personal and 250 corporate members. It is the biggest organized representation of its kind in the ...

) *2005: "Bull of Oldenburg" award given by the city of

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany ** Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Old ...

for extraordinary achievements in science, industry and major contributor to the city's economy. *2005:

Lower Saxony Order of Merit The Lower Saxony Order of Merit (german: Niedersächsischer Verdienstorden) is a civil order of merit, of the German State of Lower Saxony. The order was established 27 March 1961. The order is presented in three classes, the highest is the Gra ...

*2007: Honorary Doctor of Carl Friedrich Gauss Faculty of

Technical University of Braunschweig The Technische Universität Braunschweig (unofficially University of Braunschweig – Institute of Technology), commonly referred to as TU Braunschweig, is the oldest ' (comparable to an institute of technology in the American system) in German ...

References

External links

*
Department of Information Systems
at the University of Oldenburg
Homepage of OFFIS
Institute of Information Technology {{DEFAULTSORT:Appelrath, Hans-Jurgen 1952 births 2016 deaths German computer scientists Academic staff of the University of Oldenburg University of Bonn alumni Technical University of Dortmund alumni